DVD/Blu-ray Announcements: 'Bounty', 'League' & 'Psycho'

This week's announcements include a trio of dogs from this Spring, another acclaimed Bong Joon-Ho effort and some great titles finally making their way over to Blu-ray.

Things kick off on June 22 with Jay Baruchel trying to woo Alice Eve in She's Out Of My League from Paramount, a film that should be remembered more for its bad bowling etiquette than anything resembling romance or comedy. From there, how can we not segue right over to Sony, who will be releasing the abysmal, yet successful Jennifer Aniston/Gerard Butler action-comedy, The Bounty Hunter. Anyone who invoked the name of Midnight Run even to chide this painful monstrosity of the squabbling exes genre should be forced to sit down and watch it again.

The good news about the release of Brooklyn's Finest this year is that it cut out the ridiculous ending that premiered at Sundance in January '09. The bad news was that it kept the previous two hours intact. With deleted scenes promised on Anchor Bay's DVD & Blu-ray release on July 6, perhaps you will still be able to hear the gasp of that festival audience (and subsequent laughter) of the original cut's coda. While I might not be as high on Bong Joon-Ho's work as others, you can get in line to tell me I'm drunk again when Magnolia releases his latest thriller, Mother, on both formats July 20. They will also release his Barking Dogs Never Bite on DVD the same day as well as The Bong Joon-Ho Collection that will include both films as well as The Host.

Let's get to the Blu-rays though, huh? Much happier times. We have a long way to go until October 19, but that is when Universal will be releasing the 50th Anniversary Edition of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. That chocolate sauce will look better than ever! Also going Blu from the studio, right in time for the U.S. release of the sequel, is Nanny McPheeon August 17 and a few weeks earlier you can grab Season Three of the more recent Battlestar Galactica. Speaking of TV from the studio, on DVD only you can look forward to the first seasons of Mercy(Aug. 3) and Trauma(Aug. 10), a pair of shows awaiting their fate from NBC and then Saturday Night Live's The Best of Will Ferrell (Vol. 3) also on August 3.

On September 7, Warner Bros. is going to suck a few bucks out of your wallet in the Blu-ray aisles starting with a new 35th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (in case you need to upgrade with a new Michael Douglas interview.) If science-fiction is more your speed, they will not disappoint with releases of Forbidden Planet, Mars Attacks!, The Matrix Reloaded and the Director's Cut of THX-1138. OK, maybe a little disappointment with Lost In Space. If lower rent sci-fi is more your thing, then on July 20 you can pick up Forbidden World and Galaxy of Terror(featuring visual effects supervisor James Cameron) from Shout Factory. The Brothers Warner are also releasing on the TV side of DVD, Batman: The Brave and the Bold (Season 1, Part 1) (Aug. 17), Ben 10: Alien Force (Volume Eight) (Aug. 24) and the Remastered Deluxe Edition of He's Your Dog, Charlie Brown also on Sept. 7 along with a pair of TCM Greatest Classic Films Collections. Gangsters will feature High Sierra, Little Caesar, Public Enemy and White Heat and Hammer Horror will include The Curse of Frankenstein, Dracula Has Risen from the Grave, Frankenstein Must be Destroyed and Horror of Dracula.

Action fans are not being left out either beginning with Fox's timely Ultimate Hunter Edition of the original Predatorout on Blu-ray June 29. Then four weeks later, if the "Definitive Edition" of James Bond's Quantum of Solace isn't enough from MGM, then Lionsgate certainly will fill the void with not only Johnny Handsome and guilty pleasure Lock Up, but also an Extended Cut of Rambo that will be available individually or part of Rambo's Complete Collection altogether on Blu-ray.

Finally, with the Psycho Blu-ray stoking the early flames for your Halloween party, might I also recommend Factory 25's Oct. 26th release of a very interesting zombie film called Make-Out With Violencefrom the Deagol Brothers. More of a coming-of-age tale than a gorefest and a helluva lot less revolting than the similarly plotted vomit bag that is Deadgirl, the film will be available on DVD and Blu and is one to mark your calendar for.

For a full calendar of releases on DVD, TV and Blu-ray, just click on over to see all of this week's new announcements.